Raven's Rock Arc - Session #1 and #2

General Summary

Ravens Rock Arc

Setting Background
Taking place 15 years after the War of the Red Diamond, the newly crowned Empress Katariah travels the provinces of Tamriel to repair the broken ties between the Empire and the people.
The party find themselves on a prisoner transport ship within the Iliac Bay between Wayrest and Sentinel. The ship sails from Daggerfall, enroute to Wayrest. They were arrested and taken aboard a prison ship to stand trial in Wayrest.
Raven’s Rock: Raven’s Rock is a rocky and treacherous island off the coast of Hammerfell and High Rock within the Iliac Bay. It is inhabited primarily by Reachmen, with Bretons and Red Guards forsaking the island as worthless and hazardous to defend. The island is incredibly difficult to land on, with massive jagged rocks littering the coast line. It is a common refrain by Breton sailors to avoid this stretch of water at all costs, as it isn’t worth sinking your ship by getting too close. In the past, fisherman have attempted to harvest mudcrab and fish from waters nearby, to deadly results. Any fisherman caught by the Reachmen is usually never heard from again. Villagers on the coast of High Rock in the Iliac Bay whisper rumours of witch craft and human sacrifices taking place on the island, which is why most of them give it a wide berth.
The party had made land on Raven’s Rock. After escaping the sinking prison ship, a makeshift party of 7 made it to the shores and they began working their way up the steep cliff sides of the island to search for an abandoned smugglers cave somewhere on Ravens Rock. Clyde and Tobogo intend to assist the party with whatever means necessary to ensure that they all escape, informing them of a Smugglers Cave that was remnant of the War of the Red Diamond somewhere on the island. Upon landing on shore, Cleetus the Rancher managed to spear the Party a delicious Eel that was swimming by to feed the party.
Working their way up the cliff side, they came upon a number of corpse littered along a rocky plateau. One of the corpses, a deceased Mage named Emry Hargrave, was sent by the Mages Guild in Wayrest to investigate rumours of witchcraft and necromancy taking place on Ravens Rock. After slaying a few aggressive mudcrabs, the party caught a glimpse of a figure who had been watching them. Hot on this figures trail, they chased him up the rocky cliffs and found themselves face to face with the figure, who was wearing purely hide and bone based armour. The figure was standing alone on the other side of a rushing stream and inquisitively staring at the party.
The group of survivors marooned on Raven’s Rock found themselves face to face with one of the inhabitants of the island: a Reachmen. They initially approached the Reachmen with fear, but the eagle-eyed vision of Cleetus indicated that the Reachmen standing on the other side of raging river was not hostile. The timid Jonus was able to understand the language of the Reachmen, an ancient cyrodillic dialect that was a form of tamrielic. The Reachmen gestured for the party to follow him after Steve behooved him for aid in getting off this desolate rock. Working their way up a trodden path, Havem was noticed as the Reachmen was leading them over an old bridge that the Reachmens body posture had changed and was more tense as he led them up the path and towards a group of his compatriots waiting on the cliff side.
Cleetus, not seeing the Reachmen change posture, followed close behind. Sensing trouble afoot, the Reachmen managed to flip around and hold a dagger to Cleetus’ throat, leaving him defenseless and at his mercy. The heroic actions of Steve saw Steve take Cleetus’ place as a hostage, with the Reachmen exclaiming only that his intention was to bring them all to “Her”. Seeing trouble afoot, the party sprang into action. Jonus and Aethrondil took cover on the cliff side, drawing the attention of the Reachmen on the cliffs while Cleetus, Tobogo, and Clyde scaled the cliff and attacked the two men standing watch over them. A melee quickly broke out and after their enemies were vanquished, it was decided that Jonus would take the guise of the Reachmen and lead Steve to the leader of the settlement to negotiate passage off the island. They first came upon a small camp, and upon leading Steve in, the Reachmen inside acknowledged the sacrifice and led them up the mountain to the summit, to find her.
As this occurred, the rest of the party laid siege to the remaining guards in the encampment, looting much needed supplies, before taking up defensive positions. Steve and Jonus led themselves up the mountain where they were joined by another 20 or so Reachmen at the summit. It was revealed that a Hagraven was conducting a necromantic ritual, carving the hearts out of corpses and replacing them with Briarhearts so that they would become undead warriors under her direct control. They watched as a decaying corpse rose from the dead, and wielding a mighty wooden hammer. The Hagraven lulled Steve to sleep right as she gave the order for the Reachmen to scour the island for more survivors.
The Briarheart Warrior led a small squad of Reachmen back down to the encampment. Havem, Cleetus and Aethrondil heard them coming and took up defensive positions. Setting the perfect ambush, and with the help of some goodluck and a snapped bowstring, the Briarheart was felled before landing a single hit.
Back on the mountain, Jonus seized the opportunity and attacked the Hagraven. Steve awoke from his slumber to find himself stripped naked and in the midst of a bloody combat. Steve and Jonus were able to fell the reachmen guarding the Hagraven, but not before the Hagraven ripped into Jonus’ stomach, dropping him to the ground. A heroic standoff took place as Steve found himself face to face with a blood thirsty hagraven. Just out of range to attack, Steve at the brink of death, was able to pick up a bow from a dead reachmen and fire a single arrow directly into the Hagraven’s heart, killing her. The rest of the party would soon join them at the summit as night was beginning to fall. Collecting the spoils of battle, the party returned to the encampment for a

Rewards Granted

1 x Ol' Stumpy  1 x Dwemer Artifact  1 x Unidentified Necklace  1 x Hagraven Feather  1 x Scroll of Sparks  1 x Scroll of Firebolt 
Assorted basic weapons and armor

Report Date

23 Nov 2021

Primary Location

Raven's Rock

Related Characters

• Clyde Heinrich
• Tobogo Akunda